Central Services Agency
RSE Tender Clarification(s) (01/10/2014)
Ques 1.
Will a consortium tender be viewed as a single tender and be appointed based
on one of the four possible contracts, or can a consortium tender be viewed as
an application for multiple contracts i.e. more than one out of four.
Ans 1.
The PHA notes that the question relates to a situation where more than one
organisation comes together to form a consortium to submit a tender
response and whether in doing so, and if successful, it may be awarded more
than one contract. A Tender Response will entitle a Tenderer, regardless of
whether it is a consortium or otherwise, to be evaluated for the award of one of
the four available contracts unless at contract award stage there are less than
fourtenderers in which case the PHA reserves the right to award to less than
four Tenderers on an equal basis. It is not the PHA’s intention to award
more than one contract to a successful Tenderer. Please see Document A –
Tender Invitation & Instructions for Tendering and Document B – Specification
in the Tender Documents.
Ques 2.
Specification (Page 6) The requirement states 3 sessions per group. Is this a minimum or maximum figure? Is there flexibility?
Ans 2.
Tenders should be submitted on the basis that all group programmes will consist of 3 x 2 hour sessions.
Ques 3.
Specification (Page 6) The requirement states 2 hours per session. Is this a minimum or maximum figure? Is there flexibility?
Ans 3.
Tenders should be submitted on the basis that all group programmes will consist of 3 x 2 hour sessions.
Ques 4.
Subcontracting is discussed on page 2 in part C. Can a tender propose to subcontract the services to an organisation who is submitting their own tender i.e. Organisation A’s tender states that it intends to subcontract services to Organisation B who has also submitted a tender.
Ans 4.
The Tender documents do not restrict an entity from submitting a tender in its own right and as well being named as a subcontractor on another tender.
Tender Responses will be evaluated in line with the Tender Evaluation Methodology and Marking Scheme.
Please also refer to Instruction to Tender document(Section 19 -Legal and Commercial).
Ques 5.
In section 4, 3rd bullet point on Page 8 of Document B in the Service Specification, the requirement refers to,Two years’ experience in delivering relationship and sexual health programmes....
In section 3.2, 2nd bullet point on page 11 of the Tender Questionnaire in Document C,the requirement omits the word 'relationship'
Can you advise which requirement is correct?
Ans 5.
The Tender Questionnaire has been revised and now reads as follows;
Two years’ experience in delivering relationship and sexual health programme’s whilst working towards the achievement of the OCN Level 3 Sexual Health qualification or equivalent within 6 months of the contract being awarded.
Ques 6.
If the lead partner of a consortium bid is a contributor to another consortium bid but not in the lead partner capacity can both bids be awarded contracts?
Ans 6.
Organisations can tender both in a stand alone capacity or as part of a sub-contracting or consortium arrangement however an organisation cannot be a named participant in more than two tender submissions.
Amended tender documents will follow to reflect the above.
By way of explanation, the PHA wishes to avoid a monopoly on service provision in the region and wishes to ensure that a number of service providers continue to deliver this service.
By doing so the intention is that this will maintain competition within the market place and ensure that sufficient capacity is retained across different organisations to deliver the service. This approach reduces the risk of the service becoming dominated by one provider and costs potentially escalating in future years and protects against the potential of having no or limited service available should a single provider, who has a significant proportion of the business, go into administration during the lifetime of the Contract.
The existing market place is made up of a number of smaller provider organisations and/or organisations may have particular reasons for not wishing to enter into consortium or sub- contracting arrangements. It is important that all organisations are allowed reasonable opportunity to secure a contract.
Ques 7
The guidance says we must provide a projected 12 month cash flow that demonstrates “our business has a sufficient cash flow to cover all expenditure in the first 12 months”. Can you confirm that we are allowed to take into consideration the income patterns detailed in 6.2 of the PHA terms and conditions (Document E) as part of the cash flow profile.
Ans 7
The Provider is allowed to take into account the income pattern, as outlined under clause 6.2 of the terms and conditions of award, as part of the cash flow profile.
Ques 8
In question 5 of the questionnaire it states that a total all inclusive cost per session will be no more than £300.
If there are general costs, such as publicity and training, can these be factored into the proposal in addition to the session cost totalling no more than £68,750 or must they be included within the per session cost?
Ans 8
All costs linked to the delivery of the programme must be included in the overall sessional cost submitted by the Provider. As stated in the Tender documentation, this cost should not exceed a maximum of £300 per session.
Ques 9
(In relation to Ques 5 above): Should this not read relationship and sexuality education (RSE) in the community across Northern Ireland? Instead of sexual health programmes.
Ans 9
Where the tender documents refer to ‘Two years experience in delivering relationship and sexual health programmes whilst working towards the achievement of the OCN Level 3 Sexual Health qualification or equivalent within 6 months of the Contract being awarded’.
Please now note this should read in all tender documents; ‘Two years’ experience in delivering relationship and sexuality education programmes whilst working towards the achievement of the OCN Level 3 Sexual Health qualification or equivalent within 6 months of the contact being awarded’.
Ques 10
If the tenderer is part of a UK organisation do you require a cash flow for all the UK operation or the NI Operation only?
Ans 10
If the UK Organisation takes full responsibility for the NI branch’s financial position then it would be the cashflow position for the UK operation. If the legal entity is the NI branch and they are in full control of their own financial affairs then it would be at the NI level.
Ques11
In Section 4 it reads: A. All trainers delivering the programmes will have; A minimum of OCN Level 3 in Sexual Health or equivalent. Can you give examples of what is equivalent?
Ans 11
The “equivalent ” relates to qualifications which may be relevant in other European Union countries.
Que12
Can diagrams, charts or tables be inserted into the question responses and how does this affect the calculation of the word count?
Ans12
Yes, however any narrative within the diagrams, charts or tables must be included within the word count limit.